"Dad!, I have a date tonight, can I borrow a couple of bucks!" "Borrow, or have?", he always replied. After all, he and mom were the ones who were working. "Well, cars run better with gas in'em." That's the way it was for many of us back then.
On a Friday, or Saturday night, I could take my girlfriend to a movie, then to a popular teenage burger joint, meet our friends,  and we would have an enjoyable evening.  all for a whopping "five bucks", or less. But, it would be misleading today compared to then, and now.     Today, they'd be lucky to get out under fifty.
"My, how times have changed!" Gasoline was $.25 a gallon, never to be seen again; at the grocery store, round steak was $.79 a pound, never to be seen again. That sounds like a pretty good deal.   
 However, salaries were also in ratio to the cost of living. As a
teenager with a part-time job, 50 cents an hour was an average rate, working as a carry-out or sacker in a grocery store. Finding a job making $1.00 an hour meant you were "coming up" in the world.
Today, making $10-$12 and hour would be like making $.50 an hour back then, with prices continuing to rise.  That's progress!!


copyright: richard riddle-August 31, 2015